the ceremony
by hols09
Summary: Artemis goes back to Haven to witness Holly's Commander Acceptance ceremony. Of course, much more is destined to happen...
1. Chapter I

My first fic! I hope it isn't terribly bad.... All characters belong to Eoin Colfer, except Celeste. I wish they were mine, though. The first paragraph hints at a romance, but it isn't intended to be. At least not between Artemis + Holly...  
  
Chapter One  
  
Fowl Manor Smoothing back his raven hair, he leaned backwards in his swivel chair. Watching the computer screens listlessly, his thoughts drifted. Then they stopped on one particular subject- Holly. She was extremely pretty, in a dangerous sort of way. Black widow pretty. Wondering what captain was doing at that very moment, he sighed. His prodigy mind checked off possible ideas. Getting yelled at by Root... chastised by Foaly... Bothered by civilians. At least Haven wasn't being bothered by Artemis Fowl, Jr. A knock echoed against the thick wooden door. "Artemis?," Butler's low monotone questioned him. The mountainous man stepped inside, Artemis's PowerBook in his hands. "Yes. I'm in here." The teenager slowly turned the chair around to face the doorway. "You've been sent a message," the bodyguard stated. "From Foaly." Artemis strained to maintain his neutral expression and a steady heartbeat. Something was tingling inside him. Surely this message was a good thing. Butler handed the PowerBook over and clicked the top open. His employer scanned the screen, reading the poorly translated message. Somone is pining for you dwn hre. Guess who. Holly is being accpted as Cmmander. Come to Ceremony. If you wnt. Crporal Kelp will meet you at E1(Tara). Whtever you prfer. - Foaly Nodding, the teenager allowed a taut smile to crease his pale face. "Too bad no date is mentioned, right?" He stood up slowly and walked to the door. "Tell Juliet to pack a bag for us. We're going to Tara."  
  
***  
  
Artemis inched slowly in to Angeline Fowl's bedroom. Only recently had she taken to sleeping in this room. Until now, she had spent her days in the musty attic. "Mother?" The frail woman stirred from where she sat at her vanity. "Arty, must you insist on calling me Mother all the time? Honestly." She smiled and smoothed her son's hair. Pulling back, Artemis sighed. "Alright, Moth- Mum. Um, the school is going on a trip. To Paris. One week. Do I have permission to go?" Angeline paused. Artemis Jr. did not seem the type to go on school trips- even she had noticed his drawbacks from crowds his own age. But perhaps this was for the good of his social development, as Dr. Po had told her. "Of course, Arty." Artemis smiled. Even with his mother's depression cured, she was still extremely nieve.  
  
***  
  
Ok... how bad was that? Please read + review. Was I too out of character? Hope not. Longer chapter later. Pwomise. ~Erin 


	2. Author's Note

*Notice* So sorry for delay! I wrote the first chapter on Wordpad, but now it won't let me upload anything else from Wordpad. Only from Notepad, which I am using right now. Coincidentally, Notepad won't save as HTML. Typical.   
(I bet it does, but I haven't clicked the magic button yet.)   
So, my loving father attempted to solve the problem by trying to install Microsoft Word. But alas, he's already installed Word on his laptop, so *duh* now it can't install on the computer.   
(I hate Bill Gates. I really do. I mean, why else would it be like that? Total monopoly.)   
So, thank goodness for small miracles. My dad works for IBM, so no problem to get Word, right? I hope. I really do. Of course, if you feel that I should upload the second chapter w/o the fancy little indents and line spaces, I will. Now, to answer reviews. Excuse the mess. Notepad doesn't allow fancy little indents and line spaces.   
EMeraldQUeen~ First reviewer- I'm so honored. Of course, when I saw the email I ignored, too afraid it would be a flame, etc *teehee* Celeste isn't a fairy/human- she's the cause of Foaly's distress in the next chapter. ;) I can't see Artemis ever in love. Except with his Powerbook, maybe.  
Hermione Weasley~ You're actually going to check back? Wow.   
Thanks to everyone, actually. No flames... *phew!*   
  
I'll keep trying to upload stuff, so please don't forget me now! I've got the second chapter halfway done. Probably not long enough, though ;) 


	3. Chapter II

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Eoin Colfer except for Celeste and Kearns. Author's Note : Ah... Flame me now, just realized that just because there's no icon on the desktop doesn't mean Word didn't get installed... *blushes* Sorry for the wait. Must forfeit my indents. and bolds. and italics. but I got the spaces. So far. Also, if it's still not long enough, make the font bigger! Haha! Moonlightgoddess: I admit, I used to be A/H. But then I became H/?, which comes in lata. By the way, I ran Celeste through the litmus test. She scored 21. But I promise, she won't be Mary Sue. I hope.  
  
Chapter II Lower Elements Police Plaza, Haven  
  
Captain Holly Short ambled to the double doors of the Ops booth. Punching in the access code with a tapered nut brown finger, she listened to the pneumatic hiss of the doors opening. A small smile carved her features, undoubtedly knowing that Foaly would be in a good mood. Commander Root had just been warned by his physician that his blood pressure was too high. No surprises there.  
  
Foaly barely looked up as Holly entered the room. He was busy at work on their second attempt to get the Council to accept the 'sealed acorn unit' idea. It had saved Holly's life twice now, right?  
  
Holly sidled over to him and looked at the plasma monitors. "Good morning. something wrong?"  
  
"Nope, just peachy. Unless, of course, you'd like to make another addition to the presentation. Like the last four times." Foaly smirked, running a hairy hand over the keys, saving the works.  
  
Ignoring the sarcasm, Holly sighed. "They won't spring for this. Even if they reinstated me at Recon, they still hate me."  
  
"Right little ray of sunshine you are." Foaly smirked again, refraining from telling the captain what the rumor was going around the plaza. If it really happened, the Council would be more easily persuaded by Holly.  
  
He stood up onto the plasma tiles, loping over to another screen. Without looking directly at her, he posed a question.  
  
"Been missing Fowl yet?"  
  
"Not exactly. Why? He might have saved my life, but honestly."  
  
"Honestly, what?"  
  
"Honestly, he is not worth the People's trouble. I still don't see why you took the red flag off."  
  
"Admit it, Holly. He isn't that bad, is he?"  
  
Drawing breath to make a threatening comment, Holly's attention shifted to the doors. A techie was knocking on them.  
  
Foaly snorted in a disgruntled way. "Kearns," he muttered under his breath. "Most forgetful elf to walk the Lower Elements." The centaur ambled to the doors and opened them, moving aside to let the elf in.  
  
The short elf had an annoying voice, one that reminded Holly of a blaring alarm clock. Only worse. His potbelly jiggled as he walked him, pointy ears sticking out from under thick locks of blond hair. He was clearly a foreigner, though. Kearns barely able to recite more than a syllable per word.  
  
"Foaly," he panted, "One misdirected a message to our department. I assume it's for you. Something about someone coming to see her brother." Of course, with his accent, it sounded like "I ass it's for you."  
  
Foaly's appearance immediately seemed grim. "Forward it to me. Now."  
  
Confused, Holly questioned him. "OK, now something's wrong. What is it?"  
  
Obviously trying to save his good natured reputation, Foaly attempted a smile. "'It' is a certain thing that has been often referred to as my sister."  
  
Unable to hide a snicker, Holly fought to neutralize her expression. "I'm guessing this is quite the loving relationship, no?"  
  
"Hate is a strong word, so it is appropriate to say I hate her. More annoying than me, if you can stand to believe it."  
  
"No offense, but I find that hard to believe."  
  
Ignoring her, the centaur jogged over to a blinding white screen. The message loaded, and he began to read it. A deep scowl etched his face, and for a second his complexion was as red as Root's.  
  
"A little family reunion, I'm sure. More than likely another chance at an I- told-you-so." Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "The day Celeste comes will be a bad day for Haven.  
  
  
  
Author's Note : Ok, flame me now if I was a Mary Sue, or if this was still too short. Ok, yes, I know it was too short, but it's hard to write a lot when you're half on writer's block and half distracted from CNN and a little It's homework. Kearns is based on a kid I know at school- In fact, I had a dream featuring him once when he was laughing- the laughs actually did turn out to be my alarm clock, so I based his description on that. I'll shut up now. Please review ( 


	4. Chapter III

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait!  
  
PurpleMonkey: What you said made sense, actually!  
  
Ozzy: I suck at AF humor. I'm a Foaly at heart ;)  
  
Bride_of_lister: Nice simile to describe me with. Sounds more like my horse, though.  
  
Chapter III  
  
Shuttle port Terminal, Haven City  
  
Corporal Grub grumbled angry as he moved past the crowd. Trouble actually called him annoying. Trubs had probably never even tried to get into a terminal at rush hour.  
  
Already in a bad mood from being forced to work with Fowl and Butler, he shoved past a particularly insubordinate traveler. When this assignment was over, Foaly would get a clip with his buzz baton. Add to those bald patches on his hindquarters. Flashing his LEP license at the terminal worker, he shifted his weight.  
  
"Gimme a visa. Tara. LEP business."  
  
The worker scowled. He was, in fact, the worker Holly had had to deal with previously- "Commandant Terryl." He despised LEP operations.  
  
"How long?"  
  
"H-however long it takes." Grub couldn't help but to feel a bit precautious. The hybrid had a certain way of intimidating.  
  
Terryl's scowl grew more pronounced as he printed the visa off.  
  
"Y'know the crazy girly captain? Next time you see her, tell her Terryl's looking forward to visit."  
  
The corporal shook the comment off, tearing the visa from the worker's hands.  
  
  
  
Artemis stood by the holographic cow, tapping a loafered foot. "Not one to be on time, are they?"  
  
Butler merely stood, preferring not to answer the question for some odd reason. He shifted the large duffel bag he was carrying, full of various objects that I am sure need no description.  
  
His employer scowled. Still watching the holographic leaves, he spared a glance at his watch. Artemis's attention though, was suddenly diverted.  
  
A slightly shimmering haze hovered above the leaves, like its own little time stop. It materialized moments later.  
  
"Fowl. Butler." Grub nodded stiffly, acknowledging the two.  
  
Butler glanced up at mention of his name.  
  
"I remember you. The little no-ranker, running back to the command center after every command, am I not mistaken?"  
  
Grub swallowed the lump in his throat. "I suppose. Nice to see you as well. Well. Back to Haven, I s'pose." He turned sharply, leading them back into the shuttle. Once inside, the two Mud Men settled in quickly, but Grub noticed Butler's hand gripping the barrel of his Sig Sauer.  
  
Back at the terminal, Artemis and Butler followed behind Grub. There was quite a hold up at the doors to the tunnels. Grub jumped furiously up and down, trying to see over the head of a rather large and smelly dwarf to see what was going on. Fishing his LEP badge out, he made his way through the crowd.  
  
Commandant Terryl was practically hopping in rage. Stupid females. Didn' matter if they were pixies, elves, or dwarves. All of 'em. Made to annoy. This particular one was a centaur. One of the few in the lower elements.  
  
"Now, miss, please, you're obstructing the flow of traffic," he said, trying to be somewhat polite.  
  
The centaur whirled around, a hoof stomping in exasperation.  
  
"Do I look like I really care?" She flipped a strand of blonde hair over her shoulder, pausing to tuck it in behind a pointy ear.  
  
"You should!" The hybrid worker turned just in time to see Corporal Kelp pushing through the crowd. "There! There! See. A LEP officer. Kelp! Make her move on!"  
  
Grub rolled his eyes. Flipping his badge open, he flourished it toward the ivory centaur. "Ma'am, there is official LEP business being conducted. I'll ask you to step aside."  
  
The centaur raised an eyebrow. "This is an A-B conversation, so C your way out."  
  
Grub's hand flew to his buzz baton. Commandant Terryl saw this, and suddenly felt a lot like he had the year before with Captain Short. Unfortunately, the centaur saw this as well and stepped aside.  
  
"Thank you." Grub replied with his lips pursed. Turning back to Fowl and Butler, he beckoned them, and strode out the double doors to the Police Plaza.  
  
Terryl stood gaping after the corporal. Thanks for your help, *officer.*  
  
  
  
Holly Short flopped onto her futon, her mail in hand. Junk, junk, junk, ju- letter from LEP, junk. She raised an eyebrow and opened the LEP addressed letter. After only a few seconds, she declared what it was. Junk. She didn't want to attend the award ceremony, she didn't want to have a fancy meal, she didn't want to have an end of the year banquet, and blah blah blah. Flipping to a piece of paper that was attached, she frowned. RSVP to commander. Yeah, right. Root might be a bit more considerate than he used to, but Holly got the idea that this was Julius's idea of a 'mandatory meeting.' 


End file.
